


Crossroads

by SuperNerd92



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Fire Emblem: Three Houses Golden Deer Route, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Golden Deer Route Spoilers, Gen, I mean the one you get is fine for Silver Snow, On Verdant Wind I feel like her fate should be up to Claude though, The cutscene we deserved, well that's what fic is for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:49:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22464385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperNerd92/pseuds/SuperNerd92
Summary: Just a one-shot where I imagine how Claude would have handled the dilemma of a mortally wounded Edelgard. We see a couple different variations in the Azure Moon and Silver Snow routes of the game, but Verdant Wind could have used its own distinct scene."The objective of this battle is to defeat Edelgard... If showing pity would put my allies in danger, I will not hesitate to kill her."
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg & Claude von Riegan, My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 3
Kudos: 72





	Crossroads

Claude shut the enormous doors of the Imperial throne room behind him. They were massive, heavy things, closing only with great effort and an enormous, ominous _clang_. 

He didn’t _really_ think the Knights of Seiros would make any serious attempt to interrupt him and execute Edelgard themselves. Searching for Rhea was a suitable task to make them feel important and distract them from their hate. But then, they were, by definition, fanatics… 

… and he’d long since learned: there was no such thing as being _too_ careful. 

He was grateful, as ever, for the support of his old professor. Byleth wasn’t much of a talker, and it had only taken a small nod for her to understand at once what he intended to do. _Needed_ to do. She’d fallen in beside him without question, and now stood facing the closed doors, hand on the hilt of her unusual sword. 

It was an odd feeling - to place his trust so implicitly in another person, to turn his back and _know_ they wouldn’t stab him in it. Part of him still rejected the notion, but Byleth hadn’t let him down yet. 

He walked towards the throne, stepping over the occasional fallen corpse as he approached her. The Emperor of Adrestia, the would-be conqueror of all Fodlan. She hadn’t wanted to surrender. Indeed, she’d kept fighting long past the point where any normal human would have collapsed from sheer exhaustion. The power of her twin Crests - or of her indomitable will? 

Her great axe lay shattered on the floor, but Claude didn’t let his guard down. Edelgard was dying, but until she was _dead,_ she remained a threat. 

Her eyes locked on his, with an intensity that would make anyone want to look away. But he didn’t. She deserved that much. 

“Finish it.” The imperious command of the Emperor, still. 

“I _have_. That arrow was poisoned,” Claude said, pointing at one of her wounds. Even now, it was turning a nasty, telltale shade of green. “I asked you to surrender, but you refused. So I didn’t hold back.” 

“Then... why... are you here?” It was clearly an effort for her to even speak with all her injuries, but she refused to stop, attacking each word with the resolve she’d fought with. 

“That particular poison’s quick, and relatively painless.” He rummaged in one of his pockets and produced a vial of clear liquid. “It also has an antidote. If you take it, there just might be time for the healers to-” 

“No.” Her voice was a hammer on an anvil. “If I live… the war… never stops.” 

“If you abdicate, renounce any claim-” 

“I’d… rather die… than give it up.” 

Her breath came hard and fast now, but something in her voice told him ‘it’ wasn’t the Empire, nor the crown. 

“I thought you might say that.” Claude tossed the vial aside, and it shattered, the life-saving liquid spilling uselessly onto the stone floor. 

Edelgard closed her eyes. No more words, but she managed a nod. Acceptance? Thanks? 

“I can’t promise that my dream for Fodlan is the same as yours.” He took another few steps towards the throne, standing barely a foot away from her now. 

“But I _can_ promise you this. Those people that took everything away from you - those rats in the shadows - Hubert gave us the key to their destruction before he died. As soon as we’re done here, we’re wiping them out.” 

Was that a smile on her face? Or just a twitch of her lips? 

“The Church as we know it is finished. I won’t let Rhea stand in my way. It’s time for all the lies to unravel, and for Fodlan to face the truth.” 

Only the faintest sound of her breathing was left now, ragged and weak as it was. 

“Growing up in Almyra… they’re ruled by the best person for the job. Not the one who happens to be born to a certain family or with a particular Crest. Not so different from what you wanted to happen here, is it?” 

Claude kept talking, until she was certainly gone. Then he walked back the way he’d come and pushed the great doors open. A flurry of activity - soldiers and healers alike streaming in, pushing past him to see her body for themselves, verifying that the Emperor was dead, that the war was finally over. 

“I didn’t think that poison _had_ an antidote,” Byleth said, under her breath, so that only he could hear it. 

“It doesn’t. She was right - taking her alive would’ve been a political and strategic disaster.” 

“ _Oh._ Well. At least she went on her own terms.” 

“Or she was forced into one last illusion of a choice. A final manipulation. I’m a real hero.” Claude sighed and regarded the shattered vial.

“You’re nothing like those things,” Byleth said firmly. “In fact, you’re the one who’s going to kill them. So stop moping, and start planning our ambush.” 

“Practical as ever, Teach. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” He turned away from the throne room, back straight, step decisive. “Let’s go finish this.” 


End file.
